Patrick Hession

Patrick Edward Hession (born April 29, 1968) is an American trumpet player, educator, and author. He first became known for playing trumpet with Lionel Hampton Big Band in the early 1990s, and afterwards played lead trumpet for three years in the Glenn Miller Orchestra. In 2000 he became lead trumpet in Big Bop Nouveau, the band of his trumpet idol Maynard Ferguson. He performed and recorded with the band until Ferguson's death in 2006, appearing on albums such as Swingin' for Schuur in 2001,^[1] which reached #23 on the Billboard charts.^[2]

Hession has also performed and recorded with artists such as Neal McCoy, Scott Gwinnell, Kenneth G. Robinson, and Reggie Watkins. He published a book on playing lead trumpet in 2003.^[3] Hession exclusively plays trumpets and mouthpieces designed by the David G. Monette Corporation, and the company periodically uses him as a clinician to test new models.^[4] Currently based in Michigan, he continues to work as a musician and music educator.

Early life

Patrick Edward Hession was born in Lafayette, Indiana on April 29, 1968.^[4] He and his three brothers, Philip, Stephen, and Michael,^[3] were raised in Lafayette by their parents Michael L. and Anna M. Yorko Hession.^[3]

Hession decided he wanted to play trumpet after he saw trumpeter Maynard Ferguson perform "Birdland" and "Maria" on the Mike Douglas Show, with Jerry Lewis and the Boss band playing blues together.^[6] According to Hession, at that moment he aspired to someday be lead trumpet in Ferguson's Big Bop Nouveau band.^[7] In seventh grade^[6] at age twelve he decided to start learning trumpet,^[4] despite the opposition of his father and uncle. After Hession started working odd jobs to buy his first instrument, his father relented and helped him buy a Bundy II model.^[6]

In junior high Hession began participating in numerous musical activities, including performing at St. Mary's Cathedral, where his grandmother was organist and his father, friends, and relatives were in the choir. According to Hession, "since I was performing in church during this period, my main trumpet influence was Maurice Andre. I developed my chops by trying to imitate the piccolo trumpet on my B-flat trumpet."^[6] Before his senior year at Jefferson High School^[3] he suffered a collapsed lung, and during the two months of recovery he listened avidly to Ferguson's trumpet recordings. When he started performing again, he played Ferguson’s opening cadenza on "Gospel John" with his high school jazz band.^[6]

Music career

Early years

He started attending Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana in 1986. Among the trumpeters he studied under at Ball State were Paul Everett, Larry McWilliams and Jeff Anderson.^[4] Through his "Gospel John" cadenza Hession was hired by Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio in 1987 as a musician, where he played for three summers while he attended college. In 1990 he was a part of the All-American College Show Band and the Ball State University Jazz Ensemble I.^[6] In 1991, while playing with the Ball State jazz ensemble at the Elmhurst College Jazz Festival, he was named Outstanding Lead Trumpet.^[4] After Cedar Point, Hession spent two summers playing trumpet at Walt Disney World in Florida. In 1990 and 1991 he played lead and solo trumpet for Disney Studio & Video Tapes, and performed and arranged the 1991 show band song "Get It On," by trumpeter Bill Chase and Terry Richards.^[6]

1992-1995: Lionel Hampton Band

After graduation Hession worked for several months as a musician on a cruise ship, before being hired as third trumpet with the Lionel Hampton Big Band in 1992.^[8] The band's lead trumpet at the time, Tony Barrero, taught Hession the lead lines, which Hession played during tours on and off for the next four years.^[4][6] After a single tour with Lionel Hampton,^[6] in 1992 Hession was given a full music scholarship to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Las Vegas.^[4] He attended the school for four years, all while playing with Lionel Hampton.^[6] At the university he studied under trumpeters such as Michael “Rocky” Winslow, Walt Blanton, William C. “Billy” Hodges, Bobby Shew and Tom Porrello. Other musicians he studied with were Keith Whitford, Bob Schlatter and Martha Ream.^[4] Hession recorded with the University of Las Vegas' Nevada Wind Symphony on UNLV Wind Symphony 1994,^[9] and he has also played with the International Symphony Orchestra.^[10][11][12]

1996-1999: Glenn Miller Orchestra

After a time in Vegas, trumpeters Stan Mark and Tom Porrello referred Hession to the Glenn Miller Orchestra,^[13] a jazz big band first formed in 1938. Hession became the group's lead trumpeter in 1996, a position he held for almost three years.^[4] After the Miller band, Hession worked again for a time on cruise ships, including the world's largest, Voyager of the Seas, in 2000.^[6]

2000-2006: Big Bop Nouveau

Two fellow trumpet players, Stan Mark and Walter White, referred Hession to Maynard Ferguson,^[6] and Hession became the lead trumpeter of Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau band from June 2000 until 2006.^[14][15][16] Along with the band, Hession recorded with Diane Schuur on Swingin' for Schuur in 2001.^[1] Swingin’ For Schuur was on the Billboard charts for 9 weeks and peaked at #23 before falling to #50 on the last week.^[2]

By 2006, Hession had the second longest rein as lead trumpet player in Maynard's band behind Stan Mark. Besides playing lead book he also periodically covered Maynard's solos, including a version of "MF Hit Medley."^[7] In a review by the Los Angeles Times of one of the band's performances in January 2003, "Surprisingly, but perhaps understandably, given the set's length, the super stratospheric notes in the closing 'Rocky' and 'MacArthur Park' were delivered not by Ferguson but by gifted lead trumpeter Patrick Hession."^[14] In a June 2005 performance review, "Big Bop Nouveau is packed with impressive soloists, but the band's ensemble playing is something to hear as well. This attribute became evident on 'The MF Hit Medley,' a crowd-pleaser that elicited the first standing ovation of the evening. Hession was a standout throughout the medley, handling everything from 'MacArthur Park' to a beautifully rendered version of 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me' with aplomb and some impressive high-register work."^[5]

During his time with Big Bop Nouveau Hession also performed on other projects, for example playing lead trumpet on Reggie Watkins^[17] 2003 album A-List.^[18] He played both trumpet and piccolo trumpet on Festive Masterpieces for Trumpet and Organ by his bandmate Kenneth G. Robinson in 2005.^[6]

After a tour with Big Bop Nouveau ended in May 2005, that summer Hession played gigs for artists such as Paul Anka, and Spyder Turner. He also played with Big Bop Nouveau at a few summer gigs such as the International Music Festival Český Krumlov, and the band returned to regularly touring that September.^[5] On December 30, 2005, Hession played trumpet with Lynyrd Skynyrd in Michigan,^[19] and his trumpet playing is also featured on the 2006 album MF Horn VI – Live at Ronnie's.^[20]

Ferguson tribute albums

After Ferguson's unexpected death on August 23, 2006, the remaining group released a number of tribute albums and live recordings.^[5] The late 2006 album The One and Only Maynard Ferguson included songs from Maynard's last recording session in July 2006.^[21] Hession played trumpet and flugelhorn, and lead on tracks 5, 7, 8, and 9.^[5] In a JazzTimes review of the album, "The reduced big band (four trumpets, three saxophones, trombone and rhythm), steered by lead trumpeters Wayne Bergeron and Patrick Hession, performs the collection of fresh-sounding standards and originals with precision and utmost musicality."^[5]

2007 saw the release of the album Maynard Ferguson - On a High Note: Best of the Concord Jazz Recordings, with Hession's performances included.^[6]

He appeared on Kenneth Robinson's tribute album Let the Trumpet Sound in 2008. One of Ferguson's favorite songs had been the melody "Caruso" by Lucio Dalla, which he frequently played as an encore. According to Robinson, who re-recorded the track as a tribute, "I really wanted to do something special and different that would include my best friend Patrick Hession, who was very close to Maynard. So we got together the idea to put a loose arrangement of 'Caruso' on the album as sort of a requiem to a legend." The song was titled "Farewell Maynard," and in 2008 was included on the tribute album Let the Trumpet Sound.^[22] Let the Trumpet Sound was named the 2009 Detroit Music Awards' Outstanding Classical Recording & Outstanding Classical Small Ensemble.

Recent releases

In 2007 he played on the album On a High Note: Best of the Concord Jazz Recordings, and lead trumpet on the live Maynard Ferguson Tribute Concert DVD, filmed at University of Missouri–St. Louis. In a review of the Jeff Holmes Big Band performing at the International Trumpet Guild in May 2007, Gary Mortenson stated "It was obvious to all why Maynard hired Patrick as his last lead trumpet player. Through all three tunes he displayed great power, presence, range, and volume. Hession's ability to "power-up" the trumpet in the highest register and still play a nice melody in the middle and extremely low registers is astounding."^[5]

Since 2007, Hession has played with groups such as the Paul Keller Jazz Orchestra, the Toledo Jazz Orchestra, Paul Anka, Sandy Hackett's The Rat Pack Returns in The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean, The OJ's, Spyder Turner, and Reggie Watkins Big Band.^[23] He played flugelhorn and lead trumpet with the Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra on Brush Fire in 2009,^[24] which at the 2010 Detroit Music Awards was named Outstanding Jazz Recording and Outstanding Jazz Artist/Group. He was the lead trumpeter and soloist on the Planet D Nonet album We Travel The Spaceways; the Music of Sun Ra (2010), which won the 2011 Detroit Music Awards' Outstanding Jazz Recording.

In 2011 he played trumpet on the album Music of Your Life by Neal McCoy, and in May 2012 he played Glenn Kostur's arrangement of "Angel Eyes" at the International Trumpet Guild conference with the house big band.^[5] On New Year's Eve 2012 he also played a gig as lead trumpet with his old group The Glenn Miller Orchestra, in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.^[5] Hession continues to play lead trumpet for Scott Gwinnell.^[5]

Writing career

Hession's Sessions Guide (2003)

In 2003, Hession authored and released^[4] the music instruction book For the Sake of Lead Trumpet Playing – Hession's Sessions Guide to Consistent, Reliable and Sometimes, Invincible Chops!^[25] On January 26, 2013 the book reached #1 in the Amazon.com Kindle Store.^[5] The book focuses on mental and physical strategies for playing trumpet and improving range, and also has testimonials and philosophies.^[26] According to the International Trumpet Guild, "the tone of Hession's writing is very informal, almost conversational. Hession developed the 25 original exercises contained in this book through his practice and preparation in the professional world. Overall, Hession's book presents a very broad and developed mental approach to the upper register. It does not espouse a 'one size fits all' mentality, but rather encourages persistence, focus, and an emphasis on the basics of trumpet playing."^[27]

Style, equipment

Hession is greatly influenced by the late jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson (pictured)

Influences, genre

Hession regularly plays flugelhorn, B-flat trumpet, and piccolo trumpet, and his styles encompass Classical, Jazz, Blues, Big Band, Pop, Rock, Salsa, Merengue, Cuban and Polka. He has named his favorite piccolo trumpeters as Kenneth Robinson and French classical player Maurice Andre,^[4] also drawing on the influence of jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. According to Brass Musician, "Ferguson...had a unique ability to play high notes with full, rich tone, power, and musicality. While regarded by some as showboating, Ferguson’s tone, phrasing and vibrato was instantly recognizable...a direct connection to Ferguson’s style of playing continues in the work of the trumpeters who played with him, notably Patrick Hession, Roger Ingram and Wayne Bergeron."^[28]

Monette Trumpets

Hession exclusively plays trumpets and mouthpieces designed by the David G. Monette Corporation, and the company periodically uses him as a clinician to test new models.^[4] In June 2004 he began using a prototype of the Monette PRANA XLT Bb Professional Trumpet, which was the first lightweight B-flat lead trumpet made by the company. After Hession began playing the model on tour with Maynard Ferguson, Ferguson reportedly began joking that Hession was using 'his' trumpet, and Monette subsequently designed Ferguson his own model.^[23] In January 2006, Hession spent four days at the Monette store in Oregon working to improve the Monette PRANA BL4 Trumpet Mouthpiece he typically used. The session resulted in the Monette PRANA BL4 S6 Trumpet Mouthpiece,^[23] which Hession uses as of 2014. Around 2010 Monnette designed Hession a B-flat trumpet titled the MF STC. Intended for "extreme lead trumpet playing," it went on to be one of their more popular models.^[5] As of 2014, Hession uses the Monette MF PRANA trumpet first designed in 2004.^[21]

Personal life

Hession lived in Harrison Township, Michigan as of 2008, where he works as a musician and music educator.^[3]

Publishing history

• 2003: For the Sake of Lead Trumpet Playing – Hession's Sessions Guide to Consistent, Reliable and Sometimes, Invincible Chops!^[25]

Discography

Performance credits

Further reading

• Video: Patrick Hession Plays Premier of "Angel Eyes" by Glenn Kostur (2012)
• Video: Patrick Hession Interview 2008
• "Maynard Ferguson: Trumpet high notes legend". Brass Musician. 
• "Hession's Sessions Guide Review". The Maynard Ferguson Tribute Page. 
• "ITG Journal Book Reviews". ITG Journal. 
• Discography at Allmusic

See also

• List of trumpeters

References

External links

• hessionssessions.com
• Hession's Sessions on YouTube
• Hession's Sessions on Facebook